Outspoken Matabeleland traditional leader Chief Felix Nhlanhla Ndiweni on Tuesday threatened to burn down his official vehicle and even doused it with fuel after being attacked by alleged Zanu-PF Youths and members of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

The chief has come under fire from members of the ruling party after he claimed that President Emmerson Mnangagwa would not last long in office. A few days back, Deputy Defence Minister Victor Matemadanda threatened him on national television.

Speaking to Zimlive, Chief Ndiweni said,

They don’t produce identification, they don’t want me to know who they are. All they say is we need to take car keys from you. Then when I turn around, I see some Zanu PF people I know. One of the men says we have come from the President’s Office, and I said the President does not own this vehicle.

They pushed me to the ground, lifted me, and back down again trying to find the keys, keys which I refused to give to them.

A large crowd had gathered, they were demanding to know ‘limenzani uNdiweni?’ (what are you doing to Chief Ndiweni?) I seized the moment to grab a jerrycan with fuel, jumped onto the back of the vehicle and started pouring the fuel on the car. All the while, I was asking who had a match so that I burn the car, which to me is not important. That’s when they retreated.

They were very clear that they are from the government. Among the mob accompanying them, I saw several people I know, some of them ex-Zanu PF councillors, and one prominent member of the Zanu PF Women’s League from Umguza. I know the woman because she came to my home and stripped. Some of them I know them because they tried to steal drilling rig owned by Umguza Trust.

The chief has since filed a police report alleging that he was assaulted and almost hijacked